China
by Cath1
Summary: The NCIS team investigate the murder of a lonely petty officer. Eventual Tiva.
1. Prologue

Title: China (Prologue)

Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me. Neither does anything from _The Amber Spyglass_ by Philip Pullman.

Summary: The NCIS team get involved in the case of the murder of a lonely petty officer. Eventual Tiva.

Notes: I finally finished reading _His Dark Materials_ series (yup, only a few years late to catch up to the trend there…) and the following quote from _The Amber Spyglass_ really struck me and strangely inspired this story. Trying something new with a casefile-type fic. We'll see how it goes!

"I'd made myself believe that I was fine and happy and fulfilled on my own without the love of anyone else. Being in love was like China: you knew it was there, and no doubt it was very interesting, and some people went there, but I never would. I'd spend all my life without ever going to China, but it wouldn't matter, because there was all the rest of the world to visit."

…

"I thought: I _want _to go to China. It's full of treasures and strangeness and mystery and joy."

_The Amber Spyglass_

Philip Pullman

XxX

Prologue

XxX

Petty Officer Clara Holloway had often considered her final moments on earth.

In her fantasies, her death had taken many forms.

She'd be heroic, saving the life of someone – a young child, preferably – and remembered by many with honour, gratitude, and not a small amount of awe.

She'd be a tragic victim. Drunk driver races over to the wrong side of the road late at night. A robbery in a grocery store goes awry. Flowers at the spot of her death. News coverage. People upset at the unnecessary loss of her life.

She'd be angry and suicidal. She'd snatch her life away from all those who had hurt her, downing pills with generous shots of tequila and vodka. She'd leave everyone else to pick up the pieces and wonder in sadness and pain what had gone wrong.

She'd never considered this option.

She'd never considered dying in fear, in pain.

There was always a reason for her death; it was supposed to have significance. It was supposed to bring people together or tear them apart.

It was not supposed to be humiliating, her half-naked body slowly drained of all life, semi-consciously watching on helplessly as blood eased out of her wounds.

She was supposed to have achieved so much more in life.

She was not supposed to be alone.

And then, in darkness, she surrendered.

It was over.

XxX


	2. Chapter 1

China: Chapter 1

XxX

"Shopping?" Tony lounged against his desk, eyes narrowing in the direction of his partner as he offered the word questioningly. Ziva, for her part, had been studiously attempting to ignore him and get on with her paperwork. Unfortunately, she was well aware that this was impossible.

McGee rolled his eyes. He wasn't interested in yet another round of Tony/Ziva foreplay and yet felt that he was about to be involved.

"You think I enjoy shopping?" she asked after a brief pause. She raised an eyebrow as she looked up at Tony and laughed incredulously.

Tony looked her up and down best he could considering she was sat down and shrugged.

"It's not necessarily about what you enjoy, Zee-vah," he responded, folding his arms. "It's about what you think would cause me most pain."

She'd about given up on the idea of work at this point. "And you think shopping would cause you pain?" she enquired, amused.

"Probie, would shopping cause you pain?" Tony asked, turning to McGee.

"Well, uh, Tony," he started, feeling the glares of both agents on him. "I, uh, sometimes enjoy shopping. But sometimes, well… I once had a girlfriend who insisted on spending five hours shopping for shoes and that was pretty painful."

"See," Tony replied to Ziva. He stood up, taking several steps towards her. He enjoyed the fact that he'd managed to gain her attention.

"And shopping would be the best way to get you back after you made me watch… What is it called? _Apostrophe now_?"

"Apocalypse now, Zee-vah," he sighed. He was now stood in front of her desk. "It's a classic war movie," he enthused. "Martin Sheen, in the middle of the jungle, goes on a dangerous mission to kill Marlon Brando! _You understand Captain that this mission does not exist, nor will it ever exist_! Classic, Ziva, classic."

"And you think I had a problem watching a war movie?" she asked, amused.

"You fell asleep," Tony pointed out.

"It had been a long day," she replied. He was sat on her desk now, practically invading her personal space like only Tony could. Heaven help McGee if he ever tried this technique.

Tony shook his head in despair. "So, how are you going to punish me?" he asked. The question was couched in sexual undertones.

Ziva smiled mysteriously, leaning towards him, as if about to whisper the secret to him.

Tony moved towards her, eager. They were mere centimetres apart and had this been any other girl, Tony would have leaned in all the way and kissed her. But this was Ziva, his partner, and thoughts of that nature were not to be entertained. She could kill him in any number of ways with any number of items on her desk, for one.

He felt a Gibbs-slap upside the back of his head. Rubbing it, he moved away from Ziva. She did likewise, an amused expression on her face.

"Save the BDSM for your own time, DiNozzo," Gibbs announced.

Tony's eyebrows shot up in horror. "It's nothing like that, Boss. Ziva's gonna make me do something she enjoys as retribution for making her watch my movies."

"I know what she's making you do, DiNozzo," Gibbs responded, shaking his head. "McGee, gas the truck. DiNozzo, David, grab your gear. A Petty Officer has been found dead at her house at Norfolk."

"A murder, boss?" Tony enquired, moving quickly to his desk to grab his backpack.

"Unless she stabbed herself thirty times, DiNozzo."

"Right, Boss." Tony practically ran to the elevator. Gibbs and Ziva followed him.

"And Ziva? I suggest the ballet," Gibbs said the elevator doors shut.

Ziva smiled.

XxX

There was blood everywhere.

It was evident on every surface; an abstract painting of horror.

"Oh my," McGee said as he entered the small house after Gibbs. There was a story here, but it wasn't one he ever wanted to tell.

He followed the trail as it increased in its ferocity. He stepped round pools of blood, now congealed, taking numerous photographs as he neared the bedroom.

Ducky stood above the body. McGee could barely identify it as female given the state of it.

"Poor girl," Ducky said, crouching down beside the curled up body to study it at closer range. "Don't worry, we'll find out who did this to you."

McGee looked around the room, taking photographs as he moved. It was tastefully decorated in neutral colours, with stunning photographic shots of various sizes adorning the walls. They were all scenic; there were no people. He studied one close to him of the Grand Canyon in rich reds and blues projected from the sky.

"Petty Officer Clara Holloway," he heard a voice say from the room behind him. "28 years old. Lives alone. We found her this morning. Boss called her in as missing after she failed to turn up for work for the second day in a row. Neighbours heard nothing over the last few days; said it wasn't unusual not to see her for days at a time. Kept to herself, etc."

McGee wandered out of the bedroom into the combined lounge/dining room/kitchen area, trying to gain a better picture of what might have happened and learn more about the dead Petty Officer.

The décor was fairly consistent, with more photos out here. There was only one shot of a person; as far as he could tell it was the Petty Officer.

A smear of blood obscured the background. McGee took a photo.

XxX

Working the scene – retrieving evidence, taking photographs, sketching – took them through until the afternoon. Ducky had long ago taken the body back to NCIS headquarters for autopsy.

"Time of death, Ducky?" Gibbs had asked almost immediately.

"There's no knowing for certain at this time, Gibbs. I'll know more when I've conducted a thorough examination. As a rough estimate I'd say, maybe four days?" Ducky had offered a guestimate at Gibbs's look.

"She didn't seem to have much of a social life," Tony offered several hours later as conversation lulled. "No photos of boyfriends, friends, family. No cell phone. Who doesn't have a cell phone these days? No alcohol. And read these diary entries: nothing, nothing, nothing," he said as he turned the pages with a gloved hand. "Dentist appointment. Nothing, nothing… Pay credit card."

"Some people prefer not to go out all the time, Tony," McGee offered.

"Seems like she was lonely," Tony commented idly. He glanced at the photo of the Petty Officer. "She's not entirely unattractive. Why no boyfriend?"

"You do not have a girlfriend," Ziva noted, lifting her head from gathering evidence in the living room.

"Your point, Ziva?" he asked.

"What might someone think if they were to see your apartment?" she asked.

"You've seen my apartment. What do you think?" he enquired, his eyes glinting in amusement.

She paused for a moment. "Messy, chauvinistic, movie-obsessive?" she offered.

McGee moved his way to the second bedroom, a study. There was no blood in here and his photographs were fewer in number.

A computer was stationed on top of the table. The monitor light flashed at regular intervals. On. Off. On. Off. Amber. Green. McGee moved the mouse.

The screen came to life. Outlook was open, but messages hadn't been read since Friday evening. He briefly looked through the emails.

"Boss?" he called out. "I think I've found something."

"What is it, McGee?" Gibbs asked as he approached.

"An email. Sent Friday afternoon from a Graham Davis. _Yeah, I know that place. Looking forward to seeing you this evening. See you at 8. Graham._ From the thread of the email it looks as though he made contact recently through an internet dating site."

"Get the computer to Abby," Gibbs ordered.

XxX


	3. Chapter 2

China: Chapter 2

Many thanks to those who have reviewed and/or added this fic to your alerts! Notably, thanks to Kit as I haven't your email address to thank you personally!

This part is a little conversation-heavy; entirely necessary to move the plot forward. More action to come in future instalments!

XxX

Tony was bored. He'd spent the god knew how long interviewing the dead Petty Officer's co-workers to little avail. So far, he'd learned that Clara Holloway was "very committed to her work", "quiet, kept to herself", and "really good with spreadsheets." All very nice information, but not exactly groundbreaking stuff. And hardly what Gibbs would be expecting him to bring back. He was finding himself almost envying McGee, and that never happened.

The next name on his list was Petty Officer Gemma Jacobs. According to Holloway's boss, Jacobs was about as close as Holloway got to having a friend at work.

Petty Officer Jacobs was not overly thrilled by the prospect of being interviewed. She shifted back and forwards on her feet, anxious to be anywhere but in the room with him. "I'm not sure I can really help you," she started by saying.

Tony was beginning to realise already that Holloway's only friend at work wasn't all that close. He chose to ignore her remark. He motioned for her to sit down. She remained standing, shifting back, forwards, back.

"How well did you know Petty Officer Holloway?" he started by asking.

She took a moment to think. "We spoke sometimes. We had lunch together a couple times. She wasn't exactly the… easiest person to get on with. Conversation could take a, uh, lot of effort, you know? I'd have to do most of the work, and sometimes she'd barely say three words together. She was nice enough, I guess. Just… well, quiet."

"Did she have many friends outside of work? A boyfriend?"

Jacobs laughed unexpectedly. "Clara didn't do boyfriends!" She sobered a little, realising that her reaction was inappropriate. "She didn't do girlfriends, either. I guess she liked men; she just didn't have much time for them. She was too into her work and whatever it was she did in her free time. She never really seemed to be interested in going out and meeting people. As for friends, I never heard her mention anyone."

Tony noted all of this down. It seemed so far that the Petty Officer really did lead a life that was as uninteresting as her diary made out.

"And she said nothing about going on internet dating sites, meeting anyone online?"

Jacobs shook her head. "No." She wrinkled her brow. "Although, she'd seemed a little happier recently and I asked if she'd met someone. She smiled and said _I think I'm ready to go to China_. I wondered if maybe she had a thing for oriental guys. She laughed at me and said that it was a literary reference." She shrugged. "She'd quote books sometimes, you know? I'm not really into reading so I missed most of the meanings. She didn't say what that one was from."

"_I think I'm ready to go to China_?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. I didn't get it either." The shifting had stopped a little now and she made to sit down, cautiously.

Tony went back to his line of questions. "When did you last see Petty Officer Holloway?"

"At work on Friday. She left on time for once. Pretty amazing that I was there later than her, to be honest."

"And she didn't tell you what she was doing that evening?"

"No. I forgot to ask." There was a brief pause. A dawning realisation and her expression changed. "She didn't kill herself, did she? I mean, she was lonely, and hadn't got many friends, and I'd just assumed…"

"It doesn't look like it," Tony replied.

"Oh god."

XxX

McGee was sat at his computer, working intently, when Tony arrived back in the office.

He set down his things noisily, causing McGee and Ziva both to look up.

Smiling that his entrance had its desired effect, Tony sighed dramatically. "I have spent the last few hours interviewing Holloway's co-workers. Most interesting thing I learned?" he consulted his notes unnecessarily; "she liked cheese salad sandwiches. Occasionally went to Subway. None of her co-workers knew anything about her personal life. Although it seems as though she liked to talk in book quotes. McDickens, here's one for you: _I think I'm ready to go to China_."

"It sounds like it is from those books… the one with the daemons and the children…." It was Ziva who offered the information, much to Tony's surprise.

"_It?_" Tony queried with a look of confusion. "Cuz, I gotta say, Ziva, that was more of a monster than a demon."

"Daemon, with an 'a'," Ziva enunciated. It wasn't often she had the opportunity to amend Tony's language skills, and she enjoyed every second of it.

"His Dark Materials series?" McGee offered, stepping in.

"That's the one," Ziva said, motioning towards McGee triumphantly. "The third one, _The Amber Spyglass_."

"Okay, so these children and these daemons… They go to China or something?" Tony asked, puzzled as to how the conversation had got to this.

"China is a… what's the word… a… a metaphor. It is about falling in love. That she wants to go to China means that she wants to fall in love," Ziva explained.

"And you read this book?" Tony asked, incredulous. He always enjoyed these little insights into the world of Ziva, but this wasn't anything he would have predicted. Ziva, reading girly books?

Ziva shrugged.

"To be honest, Tony, it's a well-known series; it's sold millions of copies worldwide and won several prestigious literary awards. The first book's now a movie – _The Golden Compass?_" McGee offered in Ziva's defence.

"Okay, McGeek, that was more information than I really cared to learn." He turned back to Ziva. "So, Ziva, have you ever been to China?"

The slap on the back of his head wasn't entirely unexpected. If only because Ziva's amused look had given the game away.

"DiNozzo, I hope this is related to the case," Gibbs enquired.

"Sure is, boss," Tony replied. "Petty Officer Holloway was, in the words of her co-workers, dedicated to her job, hardworking, quiet, committed to her work, not very sociable, didn't date, and, did I mention, had no life outside of work? Most I got was from a Petty Officer Gemma Jacobs who was about as friendly with Holloway as anyone was. Didn't know anything about Graham Davis, a date, or Holloway's interest in online dating. Most she knew was that Holloway was a fan of books and was ready to go to China. Which, in bookspeak translation, we're taking to mean that she was about ready to live happily ever after with Prince Charming. Also, she wasn't working on anything classified. No one was aware if she'd received any threats. Lack of evidence from her house corroborates this."

Ziva took her cue. "I looked at Petty Officer Holloway's bank records. She either did not eat at the restaurant on Friday or Graham Davis paid. I have found nothing unusual in her bank records so far. Paid credit cards and bills on time, no large deposits. She preferred to shop online, groceries, clothes, books, but nothing excessive."

"And what have we learned about Davis?" Gibbs asked.

McGee got an image of Davis's drivers licence up on the plasma screen. "The email address is registered to a Graham Davis of Richmond, VA. Lives alone. Works as an assistant professor in the Department of English at the University of Richmond. No prior arrests. He's not answering his home phone or cell and isn't at work today."

"DiNozzo…" Gibbs started to order.

"Find out about friends outside of work. Anyone she may have socialised with. On it, boss," Tony said.

"David…"

"Check phone records?" Ziva asked.

"McGee…"

"Find out where Graham Davis is?"

Gibbs smiled. "So, what are you all waiting for?"

There were murmurs as they all got back to work. "I'm going to see where Abby is up to," Gibbs said before exiting.

There were a few moments of quiet concentration before Tony interrupted.

"So, Ziva, _have_ you ever been to China?" he repeated his earlier question.

Ziva looked up from her monitor and narrowed her eyes. "That's classified information," she replied.

XxX


	4. Chapter 3

China: Chapter 3

Many thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter/added this to their story alerts! There appears to have been a issue with the review function coinciding with the last chapter which was all rather unfortunate. Suffice to say, hope you're still enjoying reading since I'm planning on still continuing!

XxX

"Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed as Gibbs appeared in her lab with the requisite CafPow. She tried to take the drink from him, but he held it away from her.

"You got something for me, Abbs?" he asked.

"Gibbs," Abby complained, eyes wide, but she could see that her protests would have no effect on him. She spun round towards her computer.

"The smear of blood on the photo of Holloway? I manage to get a partial print from it. Checking it against AFIS and…" the computer made a noise and started flashing, "…not a thing. We can try to match it with Davis's but since we don't have his on record, I'm gonna have to wait for Davis to come in." Gibbs handed Abby the CafPow. "Aw, thanks, Gibbs. And that's not even all of it."

Gibbs took the drink from Abby's hand.

She rolled her eyes. "I got some info from the computer. They met on a dating site called truelove dot com." Abby brought the site up on the plasma screen. "Sign up for 20 dollars for six months, get six months free if you can't find a date in the first six months. You log on, upload a photo, complete your profile and voila, wait for people to contact you. Or you contact them. In Petty Officer Holloway's case, it was the wait for men to contact her option. She had a couple of emails from guys on the site but it doesn't look as though she replied. Although, quite honestly, these guys really weren't that good at selling themselves in their profiles. And that sweater?" Abby made a face of dislike. "Graham Davis contacted Holloway about three weeks ago, sounds like a really sweet guy."

She pulled up Davis's profile from the site.

"Graham Davis – not a bad photo. Gives details on interests, dislikes, career, etc. Would like to meet: woman, any age, must enjoy travel, literature and outdoors." She returned to her computer and brought up another window. "And if you're interested, here's Petty Officer Holloway's profile. Interested in reading, photography, walking, would like to meet: man with similar interests to spend quality time together." She spun round back to Gibbs. "Now can I have my CafPow?" she asked.

"Sure, Abbs," Gibbs replied. He handed her the drink back and she slurped happily for a few moments. Gibbs turned and started to walk away.

"But Gibbs, I haven't got to the best part yet!" Abby exclaimed.

"The best part?" he queried.

Abby brought up on screen a photo of Holloway at the Grand Canyon.

"Haven't we already been through this? The partial?" Gibbs asked.

Abby smiled. "Ah, but Gibbs, this is a different photo. The background – see how it's slightly different? Plus, this version was emailed to Petty Officer Holloway less than two weeks ago."

"Emailed by who?" Gibbs questioned.

Abby's smile faltered a little, she turned back to her computer and typed frantically. "I'm working on it… I can't currently trace it and with all this other evidence…"

At the lack of response to this admission of incomplete information, Abby turned round. "Gibbs?" she called out, but he had already walked away.

XxX

"What d'ya got?" Gibbs asked as he entered the bull pen.

Ziva looked up from her computer and started to brief Gibbs. "Well, since it appears that Petty Officer Holloway did not have a cell phone, I have traced calls to and from her home phone. There was very little incoming activity. In the last month, work has called her three times – and two of these were on Monday and Tuesday morning – and telemarketers called her four times. Each phone call lasted approximately thirty seconds. As for outgoing calls," Ziva consulted her screen. "One to work two weeks ago. Apparently she was taking the day off sick. And one to Davis on Friday evening at 7:32pm. It lasted about forty five seconds."

"DiNozzo?"

"Holloway had no friends outside of work. She was an only child, parents deceased, had no contact with any relatives, doesn't seem to have any contact with the cousins, or aunt or uncle," Tony sat back at his desk, hands behind his head, satisfied.

McGee completed his phone call and placed the receiver down. "That was the restaurant. Neither Davis nor Holloway turned up on Friday evening. And the reservation hadn't been cancelled."

Gibbs took all this information on board. Ziva's phone rang and she answered it.

Ziva put the phone down. "Gibbs, that was Ducky, he's finished the autopsy."

XxX

"Petty Officer Holloway was stabbed 28 times. Predominantly to the face and upper body, although there are several cuts to her back and hands as she tried to defend herself then fled from her attacker. Death was caused by blood loss from several puncture wounds to the arteries. She appears to have remained conscious throughout a lot of the attack – as evidenced by the blood loss throughout her apartment. Perimortem slashes to the face indicate that this was likely a crime of a personal nature – a crime of passion. See how the murderer has tried to obliterate all of her features?"

Ducky had cleaned the body so the extent of the attack was evident in its voracity.

"There was no apparent sexual motive for this killer – although some clothing appears to have been removed, this is all clothing to the upper body. There is no evidence of rape," Ducky summarised.

"Thanks, Ducky," Gibbs said as he started to walk away.

"Gibbs – one more thing which may or may not be important. Petty Officer Holloway appears to have had an ectopic pregnancy. Her left fallopian tube has been removed. I checked her medical records – she had the operation three years ago."

Gibbs nodded but said nothing more before exiting. McGee, Ziva and Tony followed him to the elevator. "DiNozzo, David – go to Richmond and pick up Graham Davis. McGee – Abby needs your assistance."

XxX

Tony tapped the steering wheel rhythmically, impatiently as he sat in slowly-moving Richmond traffic.

"Really, I wish you would stop doing that," Ziva complained. It wasn't the first time she had complained about this but thus far he seemed to be ignoring her. She tried a new tactic. She narrowed her eyes. "If you do not stop that incessant tapping, I will ensure that your 'punishment' is far more severe even than shopping."

This stopped him. Mostly through distraction. "Ah, so we're back on the topic of my _punishment_, Zee-vah?" He deliberately interpreted the word punishment so that it carried far more sexual meaning than Ziva had implied.

She rolled her eyes. "Is everything about sex for you, Tony?" she asked.

He considered the question for a moment. "Pretty much," he answered somewhat flippantly.

"Well, in that case, DiNozzo," she started seductively, "I've thought of just the right _punishment_ for you."

Tony gulped. It was somewhat overly dramatic, Ziva thought. "And what exactly would that be, Zee-vah?" he queried. He had to admit that he was more than a little intrigued.

Her voice lost its seductiveness. "Turn left here," she instructed, noting a sign and consulting her map.

"Kinda ruining the moment there, Ziva," he commented, but did as requested.

"Right here, then left. And then park on the left."

He did so.

"So, Holloway's a bit of a dark horse, eh?" he said as they exited the car and started towards Davis's house.

"Dark horse?" Ziva enquired.

"Not so much of a loner after all. Has sex, gets pregnant. And who's the father, eh?" Tony asked.

"I would think that maybe this could be one of your red sardines," Ziva replied. She started up the steps towards Davis's house and knocked on the door.

"Sardines? You mean herrings?" Tony asked, looking through the windows adjacent to the door.

Ziva shrugged. "It's all fish. NCIS," she called out. "Open up!"

There was no response. Tony looked to the windows. "So, how do we want to get inside this time?" he turned back towards Ziva. She had already opened the door.

Tony started to move towards the front door.

"Wait," Ziva instructed.

"Wha…" Tony's question trailed off as he saw the interior of the house. The walls, decorated in shades of beige, intermittently struck through by red. "Is that…?"

Ziva entered the house, Tony at her back, both guns drawn. "Clear," Ziva called as she entered the living room.

They moved throughout the rooms of the house, noting all the time the grotesque art of red spattered walls and pools of dark red on the floor.

"Tony," Ziva said as she entered Davis's study; the final room.

He followed her.

The body was propped up against the computer table in shades of white, highlighted by red. Blood.

Graham Davis was dead.

XxX


End file.
